San Diego Lawyer Magazine on the California Western Innocence and Justice Clinic
SAN DIEGO (May 31, 2024) -- This week, San Diego Lawyer magazine published an article, “California Western’s Innocence Clinic Charts a New Course,” detailing recent developments in the California Western Innocence and Justice Clinic (IJC) (formerly known as the California Innocence Project).
The article discusses the founding of the clinic in 1999, giving students hands-on experience helping to free wrongfully convicted individuals from prison. Since that time, clinic students and attorneys have worked tirelessly on behalf of such clients, “resulting in 40 innocent people returning to life outside the correctional system.”
The article covers recent transitions in leadership within the clinic and California Western’s partnership with Professor Megan Baca and her organization, California Innocence Advocates (Cal-IA) in January of this year, creating continuity in the program, giving students the opportunity to receive training in post-conviction and innocence work. The article notes that “as recently as April 4, 2024, the CWSL/Cal-IA partnership helped Wesner Charles, Jr., who spent 22 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, regain his freedom.” Professor Baca and Cal-IA have also made it possible for CWSL to offer the Innocence Clinic during the summer session for the first time this year.
In July of this year, Professor Amy Kimpel will join the CWSL faculty as Associate Professor and Executive Director of the renamed IJC, bringing with her “over 14 years of experience in the criminal defense arena,” including the last five years leading the Criminal Defense clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law. The article quotes CWSL President and Dean Sean Scott saying, “Professor Kimpel will provide exemplary leadership to help us better serve our primary mission of educating law students. And, of course, the clinic will continue its legal work to free those who have been wrongfully convicted, involving law students every step of the way.”
Read the San Diego Lawyer article here and learn more about the IJC here.